There is still fierce debate in the international
community regarding the use and standards of
electronic chart data and equipment. Whilst the standards for
ecdis are now virtually complete
and type-approved equipment will be entering the market during 1998, there
is currently no
IMO/IHO compliant enc data service from any national hydrographic
office. It is expected that
it will be 1 to 2 years before there is any appreciable quantity
of enc data supported by a proper
update service. It will be many more years before enc
data becomes available to match the
present coverage of paper charts, but we can expect that most major routes
and the port
entries of the majority of the world's trading nations will be
available within a few years. This
situation is examined, together with the ideas that IMO is considering
to improve the
availability of official electronic chart data. In addition, the
distribution of electronic charts
is discussed and the future trends in navigation that will occur with the
availability
of ecdis equipment and related data are explored.